Local band nominated for international award

Bangalore-based folk rock band Swarathma is going places, and how! Their music for the film Greater Elephant has been nominated in the Best Composer category at the South Asian Rising Star Film Award (SAIFF), New York. The band is up against Sneha Khanwalkar (Gangs of Wasseypur), Ram Sampath (Delhi Belly), Amit Trivedi (Trishna) and Anirudh Ravichandar (3) for the award. Ask them how they got the opportunity to work on the film and the band's bassist, Jishnu Dasgupta, explains, "Srinivas Sunderrajan from a Mumbai metal band heard our debut album and asked us to collaborate with him on this film." Jishnu says that such awards are a great boost for musicians. "This is the first time our music has been used in a film, that too for an independent film without the backing of a banner, sponsor, audio launch or superstar. To be nominated for an international award like the SAIFF will make us better our craft," he says. Varun, also a bassist for Swarathma, says, "There are four songs in the film, all of which revolve around our personal experiences. They became a musical expression and the songs just came to be. We've always been clear that we won't create music for a film that is something we don't want to listen to ourselves." How do they feel about their achievement? "I don't look at this as a competition. The fact that we have been nominated makes us happy," says Varun. Jishnu adds, "We have great respect for all the other music directors nominated. Ram Sampath has spoken encouragingly of our album. Amit Trivedi and Anirudh are some of the better music composers." Director's cut "When writer Omkar Sane and I were discussing narrative ideas for some scenes of the film, a few of Swarathma's tunes were playing in my head. Omkar heard them and found that they fit the mood perfectly. Since the film has a lot of references to mythological and social satire, Swarathma's brand of Indian folk music fit well with the theme." — Srinivas Sunderrajan, director, Greater Elephant